The Most Important Thing I Learned From My Former Mentor That Changed Me Forever

In business it’s vital to have a mentor, however, not everyone is suitable to be your mentor. I learned that with my first mentor when I went into in business, but I learned something else that’s equally important that has changed my views drastically. Today I’ll share that knowledge.

One of the biggest things that sets entrepreneurs and serious entrepreneurs apart is they have a mentor. Indeed having someone to guide you along the way and inspire you is incredibly important.

It gives us a sense of security, that we aren’t alone on this journey. Not to mention, you can always get a second opinion on what you are working on.

Mentors are a wealth of knowledge and a valuable resource of insight.

However this wasn’t the case for me and my first mentor. Deep down, I didn’t find him resourceful or insightful. In fact he had a darker outlook on things.

We didn’t jive together and for myself I felt we were drifting apart slowly.

But it was this darker outlook that in a sense changed me forever. One of his perspectives was the belief that in order to be successful you have to do things you absolutely did not like.

To swallow your pride and do something you are completely against.

I can understand my former mentor’s reasoning behind this. However through enough reading (something I think he doesn’t really do), I’ve realized our pride is one of the most important things to us.

Tossing it away or it being damaged in the slightest turns us for the worst.

It was this bit of information and this perspective that changed my life around. Though not in that direction he wanted me to go.

There Is Always A Way Around

In the end, my mentor taught me the value of pain to a degree. That it’s actually better to do something painful than something you dislike.

Don’t get confused with pain and dislike. Some pains that we experience in our lives are actually helpful. Take for example working out. It’s all worthwhile because we know there is a benefit to it.

But disliking something is different. Like I said, our pride and our belief is behind it. To break that down and tell people you’re wrong will only be met by more resistance.

Reading Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends And Influence People taught me that.

It’s likely why I’m so adamant about being against getting a day job for myself.

However, as I’ve learned from Robert Kiyosaki, there are ways around it. I could open up to the idea of a day job. Or I can find some other methods that work for myself.

It was this particular thought process that has changed my mindset. All because my former mentor was adamant about the fact you need to set aside pride or smash it to bits.

My mentor taught me indirectly that it’s okay to be a rebel.

Being A Rebel

I believe that it’s important for us to enjoy what we do, whatever it is that we plan to do. Yes, our views and opinions change, however, I don’t believe that the words “suck it up” or “you have to do things you hate” are all that inspiring.

Again we have to remember our pride. It’s our sense of self. To change something of that magnitude is to show someone it’s a smart idea to do this.

For myself, I don’t see a day job fruitful. Yes, you make more money early on, but you plateau. While starting a business can increase your income basically indefinitely once it gets going.

The rebels of the world are those who challenge a certain way of thinking by doing something that very little people have accomplished.

Instead of following a specific path, forge your own path. It was this very thought process that shifted my views and got me to commit to this idea of being a writer.

It’s also the same thought process that I’m using today to commit further into Youtube. Of making videos that inspire people.

Here’s one of them I made last week.

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Many People Have Done This

Many people have changed the standards and the world on a massive level. These people I see as larger rebels.

They don’t conform to society.

Instead, they expand our understanding of the world around us.

We all don’t need to go to that degree of magnitude, however, we can change those standards that bind us and hold us down.

Like that we have to deal with things that crush our pride in order to succeed.

This was by far the most important thing that my former mentor taught me, though I can imagine he still hasn’t shifted his way of thinking.

To be a rebel in a world of standards it’s a matter of challenging our way of thinking time and again.

To ask ourselves questions.

What can we do better?

Is there another way around this problem?

Have we checked every option?

It’s looking for options and making commitments to them and seeing things through to the end.

So many people give up before they even start. Take that leap, don’t give up, and see things to the end.

After all, you, either win or you learn from it. The same way I’ve learned from that relationship.